When the Apricots Bloom

These chapters focus on exhibiting the political realities and difficulties in Iraq during the early 2000s, as the closed museums and reserved nurse, Mrs. al-Deeb, show how both the physical locations and the hearts and mouths of Iraqis are closed off. Although Ally knows enough about Iraqi culture to emphasize her profession as a writer, she is not experienced enough to understand how simply asking questions might endanger others. Mrs. al-Deeb refuses to discuss Ally’s picture and notes that such a conversation could cause trouble; her intense caution indicates her desire to avoid being implicated in foreign affairs. Additionally, the critical difference between being a foreigner and being specifically American is highlighted in Ally’s search for an Iraqi nurse who worked with her mother. Being an American in Iraq at this time, specifically a journalist, would mean detention and possible deportation, further emphasizing the local government’s use of Fear as a Tool of Repression and Manipulation.

However, Ally’s search for a greater connection with her deceased mother proves to be an opportunity to further develop her relationship with Huda, who also shares the pain of losing a parent. Likewise, Ally’s understanding of Iraq in the 1970s evokes Huda’s memories of a less stressful time in Iraqi history, when she was not subject to the tense situation she now finds herself in with Ally. These chapters also introduce the symbolic importance of Scheherazade, the narrator of One Thousand and One Nights whose status as a Middle Eastern woman who struggled against male oppression becomes particularly relevant in the context of Gina Wilkinson’s novel. The character of Scheherazade is famous for her crafty use of a never-ending story to delay her death at the hands of her husband. In the modern context of When the Apricots Bloom, over 1,000 years later, Ally and Huda are also struggling to ensure that their own stories are heard despite Saddam Hussein’s oppressive rule.

In a further exploration of the more abstract manifestations of such oppression, the garden party at Rania’s home develops the distinction between the openness of foreigners and the closed-off tone of the Iraqi people. Diplomats at the party recklessly and openly criticize Iraq and Saddam Hussein, a dynamic that strikes at the nerves of both Huda and Rania, who realize the danger they would be in if the mukhabarat discovered their attendance in such conversations. Implied in these conversations is an understanding that even diplomats and those invited to come to Iraq are not entirely safe, though they are at less risk than Iraqi citizens. This situation can be seen as a delicate balance between tightly controlling the population and maintaining relationships with other nations. The Iraqi government does not want to provoke foreign intervention, but it still needs to repress its own population to maintain control, and thus the theme of Fear as a Tool of Repression and Manipulation continues to recur as the story progresses.

The nuances of Rania and Huda’s relationship are made clearer in the garden, as Huda takes offense at Rania’s implication that her childhood friend does not understand the dangers of associating with foreigners. While this conversation does show Huda’s insecurity about her upbringing as a common village girl, it reveals far more about Rania’s insensitivity to her friend’s precarious situation. Huda does, in fact, work at a foreign embassy, and she arrived at the party with a foreigner, Ally, a fact that renders Rania’s assumption of Huda’s lack of familiarity with foreigners unfounded. While the true nature of the rift between Rania and Huda is not yet revealed, their discussion implies that the difference in their respective social classes is at least a contributing factor to their current estrangement. However, the issue of class becomes somewhat ironic given the contrast between Rania’s financial difficulties and Huda’s substantial salary, which is also supplemented by the incentive from the mukhabarat.

When Huda arrives at home to find Abdul Amir with money from Abu Issa, the example of the carrot and the stick plays into the narrative. Though the implied punishment for refusing to cooperate with the mukhabarat is violence and imprisonment (the “stick”), they also offer financial and social compensation in the form of money and security (the “carrot”). As long as Abdul Amir and Huda can prove themselves to be worthwhile to the government, they can both avoid the violence of men like the Bolt Cutter and receive compensation for their efforts. However, the underlying danger of this arrangement is made clear in Huda’s refusal to discuss the mukhabarat with Khalid, as the “carrot” will only last so long as her and Abdul Amir are able to provide useful information, the existence of which is debatable in the first place. If Ally is simply not involved in any affairs that interest Abu Issa, or if Huda and Abdul Amir are unable to obtain information on those affairs from Ally, then the “stick” would return in the form of punishments for Huda, her husband, and their son.